Pair in court on killer alibi

A father and daughter who gave a false alibi for one of Jon-Jo Highton’s killers have been brought to justice.

William Bore, 46, and Natasha Tunstall, 28, were part of a plot to distance their son and brother, Joshua Bore, from the brutal gang murder on August 23 last year.

However in a dramatic twist in the 12 week trial at Preston Crown Court, Joshua Bore, 20, broke down in the witness box and admitted he had been involved in the murder.

His father William Bore, of Morris Road, Ribbleton, Preston, and sister Natasha Tunstall, of Everton Street, Darwen, later admitted attempting to pervert the course of justice by telling police Joshua had been at Natasha’s home on the night Jon-Jo was killed.

Judge Stuart Baker, sentencing at Preston Crown Court, jailed William Bore for 20 months and handed Natasha Tunstall a 20-month sentence suspended for two years.

Young dad Jon-Jo, 19, was killed in a vicious attack with knives, a sword and an axe, as he walked home from his local pub in St Stephen’s Road, Deepdale.

Six men, including Bore, were convicted of his murder and another two of causing grievous bodily harm.

Natasha and Joshua’s older brother Liam Tunstall, Natasha’s partner John Wilding and their cousin Stuart Eastham were convicted of assisting an offender by disposing of a Vauxhall Vectra used in the murder and transporting Joshua away from Preston the day after Jon-Jo was killed.

In the aftermath of the killing, Preston Crown Court heard Liam – a dominating and bullying influence in the Tunstall/Bore family - had put pressure on Natasha to provide an alibi for their younger brother.

Despite her difficult family upbringing, Natasha had moved away from the Preston area to distance herself from some of the negative family influences and was described by health and social workers as a “nurturing and good mum” to her two young children.

However, she had maintained contact with her younger brother Joshua and did not know or believe he could have been involved in such a violent offence.

Judge Baker said it was only due to her “exceptional circumstances” in which her children’s father had been jailed and she had been brought into the conspiracy that he was able to suspend the sentence.

William Bore – a long term drug addict – told police he had taken his youngest son to his daughter’s house ahead of a fishing trip he had planned to stay away from trouble.

However, officers investigating the murder soon realised the story was false as CCTV and ANPR camera evidence showed no signs of the journey from Preston to Darwen.

Neither father nor daughter was willing to maintain the story in court and resisted pressure from other family members to take to the witness box in defence of Bore – who was jailed for life with a minimum term of 20 years for his part in Jon-Jo’s murder.